The images of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. still haunts Leetonia parent Richard Hendricks.

So Hendricks, who has two children in the Leetonia school district, donated $11,000 for wireless triggers for teachers in the district that alert administrators and police in an emergency situation.

“Security could stand to be beefed up everywhere,” Hendricks said. “So it was a positive way and it adapted right into their alarm system.”

Hendricks, who is the operations manager at Niles Manufacturing, said he wanted to give back to his community after having a good year.

A safety committee at the school met several times to establish guidelines of when to use the alarm system, including weapons on school property to bomb threats.

The wireless alarms are worn around teacher’s necks and give instant communication to authorities for an immediate response.

“In the scheme of school safety, we like to think that we’re doing everything we can as a school district to keep our kids safe and make that the No. 1 priority,” said Leetonia Principal Troy Radinsky.

When the button is pressed, a call goes to an alarm company, which calls the dispatcher. All of the alarms are specific to a certain area of the building, giving officers an exact location.

“This school has done everything in their power to make this school a safe environment,” said Leetonia Police Chief John Soldano.

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